At Jayadeva flyover, fine print rankles motorists

Commuters , already harried by high-density traffic, feel the board and the instructions should be bigger

As if the strain on traffic movement due to the Namma Metro work on Bannerghatta road was not enough, commuters on this stretch are complaining about blink-and-miss signboards directing commuters to take diversions.

The sign boards, put up by Namma Metro indicating diversions, are so small that they are easily missed by people who are not regular commuters. This results in hapless commuters driving straight ahead and suddenly surprised by the road coming to a sudden end. When they reverse and come back onto the road, they end up going down the wrong side of a one-away, further choking traffic.

A couple of weeks ago, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) announced their diversion plans for commuters coming from Dairy circle and heading to the Silk Board junction via the Jayadeva flyover. Such commuters were supposed to turn right immediately after the Bilal Masjid and then connect to Marenahalli road to reach areas like BTM and Silk Board. The service road under the Jayadeva flyover is blocked due to the Namma Metro construction.

Invisible signs

“I was not aware that the road was blocked. When one is driving on the Bannerghatta road during peak hours, one can imagine a commuter’s plight. Especially from Jal Bhavan to the Jayadeva Flyover, the roads are very narrow. On that road with high traffic density, the diversion boards are easy to miss,” said, Gowthan Sarang, a techie.

Commuters feel that the boards should be larger so that they can warn drivers much before they approach the point where construction is going on and the road is blocked. Shivanga Naik, a resident of BTM layout said, “As you’re driving along this road, you will only find a board but nothing is clear. It is put on a footpath and it is not visible when the road is full of traffic.”

As the footpath has been completely taken up by these parked vehicles, there is hardly any space left for the pedestrians to walk, forcing them to walk on the busy road.

Nightmare after dark

At night, these areas are not well lit and hence visibility of the boards is a problem. Pasha P, another resident of Gurappanapalya said, “There are barely any lights on that stretch. They have written the diversion plan on a board in red colour but it’s not at a strategic point. Traffic near Bilal Masjid is very bad due to confused commuters coming the wrong way and then trying to find their way out of the mess. Traffic officials should come to the spot during peak hours to understand how bad the situation is.”

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A Namma Metro engineer working near the Jayadeva flyover said, “We will look into it and see what can be done. If commuters are facing a problem, we will see how the situation can be brought under control.”

BL Yashvanth Chavan, chief public relations officer, BMRCL told BM, “The boards have been installed after consultation with traffic officials. They are 4x4 boards which are clearly visible. We cannot erect these boards on the right side of the road or anywhere else as we have to follow rules too.”

BMRCL diversion plan

Traffic coming from Central Silk Board will take a left turn at 16th Main road via 7th Crossroad to reach Bannerghatta near Gopalan Mall

No change in the traffic movement at Jayadeva Junction as per the enclosed sketch of the traffic diversion plan

Several efforts by the residents to reach out to the officials have gone unheard and in vain. At times, some officials say that because there are no votes from their area, authorities are not interested in working for them.
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BMRCL starts Reach 6 work at Jayadeva Junction

BMRCL has started the Reach-6 (Elevated) viaduct construction activities at Jayadeva junction from the afternoon of January 3. Due to this, the service road from Jayadeva Junction to Jedimara signal will be closed from January 3 and traffic will be diverted from Central Silk Board to Jedimara signal. A BMRCL official said, “The work is a part of Phase II project. We will construct a few pillars opposite Gopalan Mall. We are starting the preparatory work right now. This stretch is a part of the Bannerghatta Road line. We are taking precautionary measures.”

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